Delaware Attorney Beau Biden announced Tuesday that his office is filing a lawsuit against Standard and Poor's (S&P).

Biden's office is charging the rating agency with violating state law by misrepresenting that its evaluations of mortgage-backed securities were fair and impartial, when actually S&P made decisions based on its own financial interests. Biden's suit is one of several suits that 13 states, the federal government, and the District of Columbia are filing against S&P this week as part of a coordinated law enforcement action.

“Our markets and our economy only work when everyone plays by the rules,” Biden said. “S&P broke the rules and helped push our economy into the housing crisis. My office has filed a complaint to hold S&P accountable for deceiving consumers and investors when they publicly misrepresented the independence and objectivity of their credit ratings.”